Sixth Round
The Toronto Maple Leafs made a trio of picks in the sixth round of the 2020 NHL Draft, with the first of them being Veeti Miettinen with the 168th overall pick.
Miettinen has spent the past two seasons dominating offensively in the Finnish junior leagues, registering 134 points (69 goals, 65 assists) in his past 100 regular-season games at that level.
The 19-year-old Espoo native is taking his talents to North America to continue his development, playing for St. Cloud University in the NCAA – giving the Leafs a chance to follow his progress more closely when the college hockey season eventually gets underway again.
Miettinen has a lot of offensive upside against his peers, now it will be a test to see him go toe-to-toe with players slightly older and closer to the professional level than what he experienced in his home nation.
Nine picks later, the Toronto Maple Leafs selected another Finnish defenseman in overager Axel Rindell out of Jukurit of the SM-Liiga.
Rindell played 47 games in the top tier of Finnish hockey last season and registered an impressive 22 total points with six goals and 16 assists.
The 20-year-old already has two assists in two games with Jukurit again this season and, due to his age, could be viewed as being ahead in his development – likely earning a shot at moving over to the AHL as early as next season if he continues to impress during the 2020/21 Liiga campaign.
Another right-handed shot, the Leafs have added yet another impressive talent to their prospect pool that could develop into something if he is handled the right way.
Three spots later and the Leafs selected one of the youngest players in the entire draft in Joe Miller, who turned 18 just last month.
Miller, who registered 59 points (25 goals, 34 assists) in just 25 games in one of the American High School leagues, is set to play for the Chicago Steel of the USHL this season before heading to college for the 2021/22 season – where he will play for the University of Minnesota.
Miller is currently 5-foot-9 and 146lbs, but he is younger than any other player chosen by the Toronto Maple Leafs in this draft and will have plenty of time to fill out his frame and grow as he continues to develop his game in America.